Thursday 15 November 2012

DIAMONDS SEA KING AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE – For the first time a Type 45 Destroyer has embarked a SEA KING ASaC7 – the all seeing eyes of the Fleet Air Arm.   The SEA KING ASaC7 of course had its genesis in the Falklands and the latest version has proved itself in Afghanistan, Libya and earlier in Iraq.   854 Naval Air Squadron, equipped with three SEA KING ASaC7 is currently operating in Afghanistan provided what was an unusual visitor to the flight deck of the DIAMOND operating East of Suez.     854 Naval Air Squadron has built up a wealth of experience over land (Iraq and Afghanistan) and sea (Libya) over the past decade in ground and aerial operations respectively;     Using the techniques honed from these deployments the brief visit to the Destroyer has bolstered the surveillance at sea by demonstrating the complementary capabilities to detect even small contacts at range and report them to friendly units.   The flight deck of a Type 45 Destroyer can host a CHINOOK HC2 so the physical act of landing a SEA KING ASaC7 did not prove too challenging.

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